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Last week K and I were judges for Showdown in Chinatown, a monthly 48 hour film shootout in Honolulu. They’re partnering with HIFF and MOCA’s Chinatown Film Project to feature this month’s winner as part of an outdoor screening during the film festival next month. The event was great–well organized and well attended. K and I really loved the film that won.
Afterwards we went with Sarah and Anderson to visit DJ ESKAE who was doing a six hour set at a club called Soho. The theme was Neon and it was PACKED. If I hadn’t seen it I wouldn’t have believed that neon could be such a big draw. I had flashes of being 17 again and partying on Long Island. It was hot, sweaty, and the music was really hard not to dance to.
On a more wholesome note, I started my hula classes last week. So far, it feels like transferring into a school after the year has already started. It’s hard meeting new people when there’s no context for my being there. I haven’t made any friends yet but I love my teacher. She’s a beautiful wacky spirit that dances like an angel. She invited us all to join the more advanced Monday class if we were so inclined. My friend Michelle is in that class and it would be more comfortable for me to know someone but I’m thinking maybe being comfortable isn’t always necessary.
My teacher gave me a pa’u skirt to use for class. Everyone has their own. I tried looking online for a store and one of the first entries was ‘Where to get a pa’u skirt: make it!” Eventually I found an ebay vendor who sold really pretty ones though I think they might be kind of fancy.
This is the dance/song we’re learning. Though obviously this is a professional and I think maybe I’m doing the baby version.
We woke up at sunrise
My Irving Rice travel mirror arrived from Bergdorf’s.
I asked K he wanted to drive to the North Shore for lunch.
He said ‘yes.’
45 minutes later, shrimp plates from Giovanni’s. I got the Lemon Butter Shrimp with a side of hot sauce.
We drove back home.
I fell asleep in the car. Ken was driving 70 mph. The sun we shining. I woke up to Boyz II Men playing on the radio. Ken said to me, ‘do you want yogurt or something?’
I danced in my seat.
I finished the yogurt before we even got home
….and it’s still only 12:30 in the afternoon.
The End.
A few years ago K and I spent four months living in a hotel in Vancouver for a project he was working on. When we got there we had no idea it would be as long as it was. Our time was a long frosty blanketed meditation.
We spent days and days doing who knows what… ordering room service breakfast, making sandwiches, crafting homemade Christmas cards, visiting the bookstore, figuring out how much to tip the various hotel services. Gray rainy days stretched out ahead of us. Paradoxically, dotted among these days were larger than life characters and a handful of unique experiences–like chillin with Don Rickles…
One day, months after we got back to Brooklyn, K was looking at pictures of our room at The Sutton Place Hotel. He muttered to me–we’ve gotten along in some pretty small places.
Which is very true.
Our time here in Hawaii couldn’t be more different and yet we’re left with long stretches of not having a routine even though we feel we should. There are moments in a day when everything stops and there’s nothing that I have to do. It’s jarring. Today we made the best of it and took a long walk and jumped into the ocean at the end to cool off. Now, what to do tomorrow….that’s tomorrow’s story…
Since being back I’ve only gone to Bikram yoga classes with Manny at Koko Marina. I haven’t been moved to take any Vinyasa classes… even with my favorite Brigitte. I’ve been missing taking class with Dharma Mittra in NYC so a couple of weeks ago I ordered his DVD. I’ve never done yoga off of a DVD before so I didn’t know what to expect. As student that took class with Dharma for at least two years I can say that his DVD’s are as challenging as his classes. There are several options for Intermediate and Advanced levels– within those categories are three options for length of practice the shortest being 53 minutes. There’s even an option to OM with him and do his beginning of class blessing. Within a couple of minutes I was sweating profusely. It’s not a replacement for a live class but it’s definitely a great alternative.
In other news my posts here have slowed down a little because I’ve been working on 319 on Beauty. I think I busted out ten posts today. Very satisfying.
from kevin in regards to islands in the Pacific:
“you better get your ass on a steamer and explore the samoas/hebrides etc. that was one of my cooler trips. i once had something to the effect of 300,000 miles and I spent 90K of them dotting the pacific for four weeks. i took slow boats too! must be done. eating cold canned food on hot nights in moon’lit pacific minor islands where there IS NO HOTEL so you sleep on the beach (island had 100 people) and you just got on the next boat two day later. view 13 galaxies with the naked eye everynight.”
from Joseph in regards to the Hawaii’s Big Island:
“kiholo bay beach-also need a 4×4 to access unless you want to hike. this was just south of our resort. super beautiful, clear shallow water. basically it’s a beach that connects to a peninsula. you can walk across the water since it’s so shallow, no more than neck deep. sea turtles everywhere. and the area is fed by a freshwater spring, so you can feel the cold freshwater on top and the warm sea water on your feet. plus if you have goggles, you can see underwater where the fresh and salt waters separate, which looks like a mirror. finally there are two SICK mansions on the beach (of course on private property). one is the paul mitchell house (the cheesy bearded guy who sells hairspray), whose house looks like something out of the video game MYST. and the other is owned by the guy who invented the pacemaker; its ginormous.”
from Sarah a beautiful photo:
http://smartmagazine.blogspot.com/2008/10/lookout-weekend.html
This isn’t my car but I wouldn’t mind if it was. It look likes Mystik stickers from the 80′s.
This past weekend I drove to Koko Marina to meet Sarah for an amazing Bikram class. Manny didn’t disappoint. I got into such a zone that by the end I wasn’t breathing heavy, even though I worked so hard and I looked like someone dunked me in a tank. But that’s not the news.
I. drove. myself. there. Granted it took me 45 minutes, but I got there in one piece. It’s the longest and farthest I’ve ever driven by myself. Though I didn’t think about that until after the fact. I just knew that I wanted to get there and I didn’t want K to have to drive me after working so hard this past week.
It turned out to be fun. I have a feeling that I secretly love driving. We’ll find out soon because Ken reserved a car for me today at Alamo-National. We decided to go with renting a car rather than buying because we’re only here for another 7 months or so. To have to cope with getting rid of two cars seems silly. Also, they gave us the kama’aina rate which was awesome. There are slim pickings when it comes to compact rentals. This article helped me decide on the Toyota Yaris.
Sarah invited me to work with her and some great people that have created a presenting organization called Interisland Terminal. I haven’t attended one of their weekly meetings yet but I’m looking forward to it. In the meantime their second program Turn it Up to 11! Rock N’ Roll Cinema Weekend opens this Friday.
Back home Mary is getting ready for her S/S 2010 Fashion Week presentation for Slow and Steady Wins the Race. I’ve been trying to work with her from afar. I don’t know how useful I’ve been but it keeps me from feeling so far away. She has a great roster of contributors to The Still Life:
Last year I believed that I video taped a ghost . This year ghosts are not really an issue but having distance from it has made me curious about what really happened. I was talking to Julie about it and she suggested that I have a session with this woman that does ‘clearings’. I think I’d like to ask her about my tape.
Finally I’m trying a new recipe tonight. Kat introduced me to the recipe for Zuni Chicken which has become something I cook almost every other week. I asked her to recommend another recipe just to have more than one chicken dish in my repertoire. She didn’t have one but she steered me towards one of her favorites: Mark Bittman. Here’s how the Butter Chicken (as we’re calling it) turned out:
After a week of long late hours working, K is home again.
The best part of this week was when Bethany stayed over to keep me company. She showed up early Friday evening with three seasons of The Office on DVD and half of a Baskin Robbins birthday cake. Can one ask for anything better??? We heard a loud bump on the lanai and Gabi the cat appeared–gave me a fright.
After arming the security system, we fell asleep in the living room on our respective couches, laptops close by and season 2 on the TV.
Speaking of which K and I accidentally set off the alarm this morning and 2 police cars showed up–one was an SUV! I was so embarrassed yet impressed at the same time. I had to show them ID and they looked all around the house before leaving.
Julie called in through the window tonight while I was making myself dinner and asked me if I wanted to go see the full moon. I was in my pajamas and had settled in for the night so I wasn’t really apt to go. But I said yes because I like her and thought it would be nice to get to know her better. I’m so glad that I went. Three different people, prior to this, had told me that I had to check out the full moon. I didn’t really understand. Now I do.
It was getting dark as we got to the beach and the moon was growing brighter and brighter. We walked the entire length of the beach glancing up at the moon every now and again. It was more beautiful than any picture or painting of Lanikai I’ve ever seen. The moon was hanging low between the Mokes and the sky was charged with deep blues, purples, and pink. The beach was so quiet but there were pockets of neighbors talking with each other, some of them letting their dogs run and play in the sand.
Julie said that full moon nights remind her of the air in the South of France. I don’t know about that because I’ve never been but it certainly felt like being in a completely different place, country… even planet.
Sarah and Steve came over for dinner tonight–great company and great conversation. Hopefully they don’t get tired of the fact that almost all of our after dinner conversations are dominated by my curiosity about Hawaiian issues and the politics of statehood, sovereignty, etc.
Right before they arrived my friend Curtis sent me this YouTube video titled The Other Hawaii which touches on some of the struggles and contradictions that lie beneath the surface.
Sarah mentioned a couple of films that are being programmed this year at HIFF that sound really interesting: State of Aloha and The Last Princess, the latter sparking controversy among a number of Hawaiian groups.
As an Asian American, I feel a very instinctive connection to Hawaii. I feel like I don’t have enough time to understand the nuances of these issues and the politics surrounding them. My conversations with Sarah and Steve really help.
On a lighter note they brought tonight’s dessert which was RAD. Sorbet and gelato from a place called La Gelateria. The flavors they brought were Hazelnut Frangelico and Dragonfruit. The tagline is Made in Hawaii since 1981. They said it isn’t really a store, that they provide gelato to restaurants on the island but sell pints from their location. Steve said it doesn’t even look like a storefront–you walk in and there’s a desk and a fax machine.
Delicious.
